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Swash zone sediment suspension and transport and the importance of bore-generated turbulence

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Field Value
Title Swash zone sediment suspension and transport and the importance of bore-generated turbulence
Names Puleo, J. A. (creator)
Beach, R. A. (creator)
Holman, Robert A. (creator)
Allen, J. S. (creator)
Date Issued 2000-07-15 (iso8601)
Note copyrighted by American Geophysical Union
Abstract A study of swash zone sediment transport was conducted at Gleneden
Beach, Oregon during February 25-28, 1994. The data collected included suspended
sediment concentration (SSC), sea surface elevation, and velocity (initially 4 and 8
cm above the bed) at three cross-shore locations within the swash zone spanning high
tides. Ensemble averages of 6, 9, and 12 s duration swash events showed that the
uprush suspension was high, concentrated in the leading edge, and nearly vertically
uniform above the lower 1-2 cm of the water column. Shortly after the sensors were
inundated by run-up, the sediment rapidly settled out of the water. During flow
reversal the SSC was small but increased again in the backwash. Backwash vertical
profiles were markedly different from uprush profiles with much of the suspension
being confined to very near the bed where strong vertical gradients in SSC existed.
These marked differences show that the backwash is not simply the reverse of
the uprush, implying significant differences in the underlying fluid dynamics and
sediment transport mechanisms. Backwash sediment suspension increased with
flow duration. However, ensemble-averaged SSC profiles of varying duration showed
that the backwash concentrations were not consistent at the same temporal phases,
which suggests that water depth, in addition to flow duration, may be a controlling
factor. Strong cross-shore gradients in SSC suggest that bore-derived turbulence
may affect local sediment transport. Specifically, our data show this bore-generated
turbulence (turbulent kinetic energy) directly influences local sediment suspension,
hence, standard bed shear (Bagnold-type) sediment transport models may no longer
be valid in the vicinity of the bore. In the vicinity of the bore a higher correlation
between bore-generated turbulence and suspended sediment transport was found
than between a Bagnold-type formulation and suspended sediment transport.
Genre Article
Identifier Allen, J. S., Beach, R. A., Holman, R. A., Puleo, J. A., Swash zone sediment suspension and transport and the importance of bore-generated turbulence, J. Geophys. Res., 105, C7, 2000.

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